Reflections of Assistive Technologies

Assistive technologies that exist today have changed the way that students with special needs are taught. In the first video, various devices are shown that help students participate in their classes. Susanne uses voice recognition to write her college essays, and she uses her wheelchair to get around campus on her own. Also, the voice recognition on her cell phone provides her with a way to get help if she needs it. Vishal is not able to use his fingers to type out things on a computer, so he uses an on screen keyboard to type.

There are a lot of other ways that technology has helped students communicate and learn. Some technology is used as a device that allows the student to get across basic words and communication, while other students can communicate fine, but need the help of technology to do individual work without the help of others. Also, some use technology to pursue their passions in non-academic things, such as creating music with the use of a joystick.

For some students, technology is what takes them from the isolation to interaction, such as in the case of Josh. He was unable to communicate what he wanted to say to others, which caused frustration. With the use of the super talker and bookworm, he was able to start communicating with everyone. He learned more words and gained the confidence so that he would be able to communicate more easily and more often with others.

Back to the Future

In the three videos, there was a lot of technology usage; some of which we do have today, and some of which is not accurate.
Similarities: The boy video chats with his classmate to discuss their assignment. There are many different programs today that can be used to video chat just like that. Also, the teacher in the classroom was using what looked kind of like a Powerpoint presentation to teach the class, only on three different screens.

Differences: The boy used voice recognition to control his computer. It worked sort of like the computer on Star Trek where you simply voice a command and the computer carries it out. This technology probably does somewhat exist today, but not many people have it, and it's probably really expensive. Also, I noticed that he didn't use a mouse. For those operations that he couldn't use voice control, he typed a series of keys on the keyboard. The mouse is an integral part of operating a computer with ease.

The Future: I hope that someday we will all be able to pretend we're on star trek and say "Computer, what is the nature of this universe?" and get an answer. Also, it would be very helpful if children who have to stay home from school could easily have access to all classroom discussions and such from their home computer. Of course, this would also eliminate the fun of staying home sick, but it's for the sake of education.